


A Gypsy Life

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Naomi likes a gypsy life
Kudos: 5





	A Gypsy Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'numbers'

A Gypsy Life

by Bluewolf

Growing up, Naomi was an unhappy child.

She did realize that before she was of school-leaving age she was basically trapped, but that knowledge did nothing to reconcile her to what she considered a life of boredom. Her only release was the two weeks in the summer when she went on holiday - yet even those weeks were less relaxing for her than they could have been, for her parents considered a holiday spent anywhere other than in a big town where they could go to the theater every night a total waste of time. Life was better when her grandfather went on holiday with her family - he was happy to take charge of her and her brother and sister, take them to places like a local zoo rather than whatever 'important' buildings were in the city.

She adored her grandfather, who seemed to like the same things she did. But he died when she was twelve, and the next six years were close to hell for her, though David and Rachel weren't quite so unhappy with the life their parents preferred. Naomi knew, however, that once she was eighteen and able to leave school she would escape.

Jacob Sandburg only had one child - Naomi's father John; and when he made his will, Jacob decided that he would split his money four ways; 40% to his son and 20% each to his beloved grandchildren. The money left to his grandchildren would become available to them when they were eighteen and left school.

All three were sensible about the money even although the amount left to each was just over $2,000,000. None of them would ever have to work - but all three knew that it would be very easy for them to over-spend; they had heard of people who won millions in a competition, or on a lottery, spending it all within a very short time. And they promised each other that they would be very careful about what they bought.

***

When Naomi finally left school and began what she planned to be a lifetime traveling the world, she chose to hitch-hike rather than spend money on bus, train or airplane. Yes, she would have to take a plane any time she wanted to go abroad - but for the moment she was happy to explore America.

But hitch-hiking had its own dangers, and one lift she was given, a few weeks after she began her 'tour' of America, ended up less than happily; the two men in the car attacked and raped her, then left her lying at the side of the road.

A subsequent car stopped when the driver saw her, but she was unable to give any details of the two men who assaulted her and - as she discovered a few weeks later - left her pregnant.

Naomi didn't let her pregnancy - or, later, her possession of a child she called Blair Jacob - stop her; she carried on traveling, still mostly hitch-hiking, though as far as possible looking for vehicles that held a woman as well as a man.

***

By the time he was four, Blair could read and write, and was trying to draw; but where the reading and writing were good, the drawing wasn't, and Blair was clearly unhappy about it. Naomi thought about it for a day or two, then gave him a book of 'Paint by Numbers' and a big pack of colored pencils.

Blair rationed his use of the book, coloring each segment very carefully and taking at least two days to color each picture. Then - young though he was - he began to think about it, and carefully began to copy the pictures into a blank notebook. He was reasonably satisfied with the results, and decided to try drawing something from life... and that worked where trying to draw something from memory didn't.

Naomi saw what Blair was doing, and smiled contentedly. Once her son decided he wanted to do something - he would do it.

***

When he was sixteen, he was accepted as a student by Rainier University, and settled happily to a life of study.

Naomi never quite understood why Blair wanted a settled life; she had been sure that having spent his formative years traveling he would want to continue living as she did, with short-term relationships terminated when she decided to move on. She had been genuinely fond of some of the men she met and briefly stayed with, and if any of them had chosen to move with her she would have been delighted, but for her nothing could ever take the place of a gypsy life, with no rules other than those she set for herself. But once Blair decided to settle down she gave him an allowance. She did have to admit, however, that as an anthropologist Blair would probably be doing some traveling and visiting places other than the city whose university he had chosen to attend.

Although after he settled in Cascade she wrote to him on a very regular basis, at least half of his letters to her were returned as 'not known at this address' or 'gone away'. Not even to hear from her son, much though she loved him (despite the circumstances of his conception) would she stay anywhere for long. She did visit him at least once a year, staying for a day or two before moving on, and knew that he enjoyed those visits as much as she did. But nothing would - could - make her stay for long.

In some ways she was horrified when he met, and moved in with, Jim Ellison; but she quickly came to realize how fond they were of each other, and how protective of Blair Jim was. And although she had seen police brutality in some parts of the world, she soon decided that the men of Cascade's Major Crime unit were men of honor. So she gave a resigned sigh and moved on again...


End file.
